Sleeping Dogs Film with Donnie Yen Officially Canceled, Hong Kong Actor Disappointed…

This is indeed very sad news: the Sleeping Dogs film project is now officially canceled! Actor Donnie Yen confirmed this during a Zoom interview with our colleagues at Polygon, marking the end of any hopes for the license’s revival. There was significant potential in this True Crime Hong Kong game, which stood out as one of the best Grand Theft Auto alternatives set in a triad environment within the underbelly of Hong Kong. Despite years of effort to bring the film to fruition and Donnie Yen’s personal investment into this video game adaptation that sold 2.3 million copies, all hope for its continuation has now been extinguished.

I invested significant time and effort into these projects, including a portion of my own funds to secure the initiatives and certain rights. I waited for several years during this process. Throughout this period, I was genuinely committed to seeing it through with various visions in mind. Unfortunately, as one might understand how Hollywood operates… After dedicating many years to this project, despite its challenges, it is now time to move forward towards new opportunities.

Announced for the first time in 2017, the film “Sleeping Dogs” was set to feature Donnie Yen as Wei Shen, the protagonist of the game. It is disappointing that in 2018, Donnie Yen stated the film was “in progress,” and at one point, Indonesian filmmaker Timo Tjahjanto (The Night Comes for Us, The Shadow Strays) was in talks to direct it. Donnie Yen will now focus on a new film titled “The Prosecutor,” in which he both acts and directs, scheduled for release on January 10 in US cinemas (no date yet for France). Note that Donnie Yen is also associated with a John Wick spin-off centered on his character Caine from “John Wick 4” and is working on new films in the Ip Man and Flashpoint franchises.